Are Vendor Finance Homes Right For Your Portfolio?

 With so many different ways out there of investing your money, you might not have thought about vendor finance homes as an option before. Even so, they are worth looking into, and could form a worthwhile portion of your overall investment portfolio. They involve helping others to purchase property, placing yourself less in the traditional position of the owner selling it on than simply in the position of the person providing the finance for it. In doing so, they avoid several key difficulties associated with more traditional forms of property investment.

Difficulties such as the range of additional costs that always seem to minimise any profit you make. From taxes to estate agents’ fees, everything you do when buying or selling property seems to cost slightly more than you thought it would at the start, with the result that there is hardly anything left for you at the end. That’s assuming that you can sell the place on, of course. You are absolutely trapped by the state of the housing market, and the need to only sell when it has risen by enough to make it worth your while. You end up not knowing when you will be able to liquidate your investment, or what sort of profit you will realise when you do.

By offering the finance for a purchase, you are putting yourself in a very different position. Instead of being the owner, paying out for every little thing, you are the one being paid. High earning would be home owners without the spare cash for a deposit come to you, pay what they owe regularly, and give you a guaranteed return for your initial investment. They get the home they want without years of saving, and both sides are happy with the arrangement.

If that sounds too good to be true, remember that this is a scenario where you are genuinely protected from the worst of the risks. If your clients are vetted properly at the start, then the likelihood of them defaulting is drastically reduced, and even if they do, you get the property in addition to any money already paid. You get to sell that on in the more traditional fashion, and you still make a profit. Contrast that with the dangers of so called protections like negative gearing, which only works when property values rise, and which can leave you with substantial costs if it falls.

Obviously, this is generally a long term investment, but one of the key advantages of this approach is that you know that. You know how long it will take, and what you will get back over any given period. You aren’t stymied by the guesswork needed when trying to ride the peaks and troughs of the property market. Nor are you stuck waiting for a buyer. Yes, seek the correct advice from your legal or financial advisors, but in general, vendor finance homes are a great opportunity for those put off by the problems of other property investment options.